# factcheck

Debunked: It is misleading to claim that 30-degree heat is 'normal' during an Irish summer

Social media users suggest that climate change has been exaggerated in recent weather reports.

28.0k

Aug 13th 2022, 1:00 PM

Debunked: A claim that the UN accused Ukrainian forces of using 'human shields' is missing context

The use of human shields breaches international human rights law.

11.4k

Aug 12th 2022, 3:39 PM

Debunked: No, The Journal didn't report a man's death from monkeypox after his 'parachute failed'

An image featuring The Journal’s logo has been manipulated.

2.4k

Aug 9th 2022, 2:10 PM

Debunked: No, The Journal did not report that monkeypox lives on toilets for 120 years

The article has been photoshopped and the claim is fake.

1.2k

Aug 9th 2022, 8:46 AM

Debunked: Is it potentially dangerous to give dogs ice during high temperatures?

A viral post shared thousands of times during the heatwave warned against giving K9s ice, but is it true?

3.8k

Jul 28th 2022, 7:45 AM

FactFind: Are Irish farmers the 'most carbon-efficient food producers in the world'?

A number of politicians including the Taoiseach mentioned Irish beef and dairy’s carbon efficiency this week. But what does this mean?

31.8k

Jul 24th 2022, 3:12 PM

# Meath

FactFind: Is Navan the largest town in the country without a rail line?

Meath’s county town was promised a rail connection in 2005 but there’s still no delivery date.

33.1k

Jul 23rd 2022, 7:30 AM

FactFind: How have other countries regulated Airbnb and what happened when they did?

Cities have successfully passed laws restricting Airbnb but it hasn’t always led to more houses and lower rents

22.0k

Jul 20th 2022, 8:00 PM

Debunked: A drone image of lightning striking the Poolbeg towers has been digitally altered

The chimney stacks were hit by lightning yesterday, but this widely shared image has been doctored.

59.9k

Jul 20th 2022, 12:26 PM

FactCheck: Is the protocol stopping Jewish people in the North from practising their religion?

The claim was made by former Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis.

21.2k

Jul 17th 2022, 7:30 AM

Debunked: TikTok videos touting unproven and potentially dangerous 'herbal abortion' methods

The videos have circulated since the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade rulin.

Clips circulating on TikTok recently have suggested how women can terminate their own pregnancies, Brianna Parkins writes.

Many videos have cited the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last month.

Medical experts have warned against using such methods because they are possibly dangerous and there is no evidence to support them.

14.7k

Jul 11th 2022, 12:05 AM

FactCheck: Are there 16 vacant homes for every homeless person in Ireland?

The claim was made by Cian O’Callaghan last week.

31.9k

Jul 2nd 2022, 9:00 PM

Debunked: The pain from a kick in the testicles is not the same as giving birth to 160 children at once

It might be painful but there is no evidence to support the claim.

191k

Jul 1st 2022, 12:00 PM

Debunked: No, the UN did not warn of '500 million refugees on their way from Africa to Europe'

The UN Refugee Agency said it never issued such a statement and it warned of the damage disinformation can do.

12.1k

Jun 27th 2022, 2:58 PM

# aghamore

Debunk: No, this photo doesn’t show a ‘bloody’ eucharist at a Mayo church

However, a local priest says an incident is being investigated by Church authorities.

59.7k

Jun 24th 2022, 6:00 PM

FactFind: Has the Irish Government done 'a lot more' than the UK to reduce the cost of living?

Leo Varadkar made the claim last month.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar made the claim last month - so we’ve decided to see whether Ireland has actually done more than the UK.

Varadkar said Ireland is "ahead of what’s being done in the United Kingdom” when comparing “like with like”.

37.7k

Jun 6th 2022, 12:05 AM

Debunked: Video game footage misleadingly re-packaged as footage from the war in Ukraine

Fake footage from the game Arma 3 has been doing the rounds.

18.3k

Jun 3rd 2022, 1:34 PM

FactCheck: Did Kellogg's announce a transgender cereal mascot?

Is the Rice Krispie mascot “Pop” is now a trans woman?

25.3k

May 31st 2022, 7:00 PM

FactCheck: Were refugees and asylum seekers segregated by race in a Dublin processing centre?

An activist Twitter account claims an “apartheid system” gives Ukrainians preferential treatment over asylum seekers from other countries.

Arrivals to a Dublin centre were given different coloured wristbands depending on their race according to an activist group.

Wristbands determined access to beds with Ukrainian arrivals given beds while other asylum seekers slept on the floor, the group alleged.

The group, Abolish Direct Provision Campaign, called on Minister Roderic O'Gorman to resign.

14.0k

May 31st 2022, 12:05 AM

FactCheck: Did the EU ban crown symbols from appearing on pint glasses in the UK?

The Mail on Sunday made the claim yesterday.

29.3k

May 30th 2022, 4:40 PM

# Healthcare

FactCheck: Is 10% of Ireland's healthcare budget spent on diabetes?

The claim has been made by government ministers and the HSE itself.

18.8k

May 21st 2022, 8:00 AM

# the good information project

FactFind: Will planned turf regulations reduce air pollution?

Turf and other solid fuels contribute to air pollution – which can have damaging health effects.

18.0k

May 6th 2022, 12:05 AM

The war on misinformation: What counts as a win?

Will we ever be free of bad information or do we simply learn coping strategies to keep up the fight?

9.6k

May 1st 2022, 7:00 PM

# pyschology

Can people be 'inoculated' against false news?

‘Prebunking’ involves innoculating people with weaker doses of misinformation in a safe space in order to strenghten their ability to spot it in the wild.

10.7k

May 1st 2022, 8:00 AM

# the good information project

FactCheck: Is this a photo of Dynamo Kyiv players armed in military gear?

Social media posts claim ‘football practice is off the schedule’ as one of Ukraine’s most successful teams kits out in army combats to join the mililtary.

34.3k

Apr 14th 2022, 10:00 PM

Are we winning the fight against misinformation?

Is it even winnable at all? Or is false information just a fact of life now?

9.1k

Apr 6th 2022, 8:00 AM

# oscars 2022

Debunked: These are not celebrity reactions to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars

These are reactions from another scandal-making moment at the 2017 Oscars where the wrong winner was announced.

53.4k

Mar 28th 2022, 6:31 PM

# Analysis

How Russia is using fake fact-checks to spread disinformation about Ukraine

One of the tools used against false news online is being weaponised to spread the very thing it was designed to fight against.

Russian website are increasingly using the fact-check and debunk format to sow doubt about what's happening in Ukraine, Brianna Parkins writes.

Social media feeds have recently featured red stamps declaring things as 'fake' that are actually real.

Experts suggest that traditional fact-check formats will have to adapt to combat the problem.

22.9k

Mar 28th 2022, 12:05 AM

# Fuel

FactFind: Is the carbon tax on home heating oil an excise duty - and could it be cut?

An argument about the definition of this tax broke out last week as the government moved to address rising fuel costs.

22.6k

Mar 18th 2022, 12:05 AM

# edmo ireland

The Journal FactCheck joins Irish alliance to detect and respond to disinformation

Academics, technology and fact-checking experts are designing “whole-society” response to disinformation campaigns.

6.3k

Mar 15th 2022, 11:53 AM

Debunked: No, this is not an 8-year-old Ukrainian girl confronting a Russian soldier.

These are old photos of Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian activist.

42.6k

Mar 9th 2022, 10:34 AM

Debunked: No, these are not photos of the President and First Lady of Ukraine fighting on the front line

The photos widely shared on Facebook and Twitter are old and out of context.

52.7k

Mar 4th 2022, 9:00 PM

FactCheck: Is this footage of the famed Ghost of Kyiv?

Reports of the ‘ace’ fighter pilot protecting the skies of Kyiv gave hope to Ukrainian resistance but is footage on social media real?

41.4k

Mar 2nd 2022, 7:00 PM

# meryl streep

Debunk: No, this isn't a photo of Meryl Streep after a director said she was 'too ugly' for a role

The actress did miss out on the part, but this photo isn’t as claimed

51.7k

Mar 2nd 2022, 3:49 PM

# net zero

FactFind: How can petrol and diesel be called 'carbon neutral'?

Applegreen sells a ‘carbon neutral’ driving option at pumps – how does that work?

17.5k

Mar 2nd 2022, 12:05 AM

FactCheck newsletter: Russia is fighting an 'Information War' - and it has spread to Ireland

Disinformation is significant aspect of the crisis unfolding in eastern Europe.

64.5k

Mar 1st 2022, 7:30 PM

FactCheck: Sign up to The Journal's monthly newsletter about misinformation trends

See how we’re fighting misinformation and disinformation every month.

3.2k

Feb 26th 2022, 6:06 PM

# Misinformation

Disinformation, Ukraine and the war of words on social media

In the first 14 hours of the invasion fact-checkers had already found 34 pieces of disinformation about the conflict.

21.6k

Feb 24th 2022, 8:00 PM

THE MORNING LEAD

FactCheck: Has Sinn Féin objected to the construction of 6,000 houses?

A report by

Stephen McDermott

The claim has repeatedly been made by the Taoiseach.

The claim has repeatedly been made by the Taoiseach in the Dáil during debates on housing.

Fianna Fáil cited 24 motions on housing across five different local authorities as evidence for the claim.

Government party's councillors voted the same way as their opposition counterparts in some votes, Stephen McDermott writes.

120k

Feb 19th 2022, 12:05 AM